Mentally Taxing

You think the Suns might have trouble rebounding mentally from Game 1, how about us fans? Talk about a mental. I honestly don’t know if my brain, my heart, my central nervous system can handle a game like that again.

Terrible for three and a half quarters. Michael Finley comes alive for a game-tying, regulation-ending three pointer. Tim Duncan of all people hits a seemingly planned, wide-open three pointer to end and tie the first overtime. Tony Parker inexplicably fouling Steve Nash from beyond the arc, subsequently fouling out in the first OT. How about Steve Nash then missing one of those three FT’s. Or, Steve Nash’s fading, corner three to tie things up with under 15 ticks left. Manu’s running, fading, falling, twisting banked layup.

Phewwwwww.

That’s basically all I did after the game on Saturday. I exhaled, over and over again.

If You Are What You Say You Are Tim Duncan is and forever will be a superstar. Simply put, the man does everything when it counts. Have his regular season numbers been on the decline the last several years? Without question. But, Tim Duncan, like Derek Jeter and Tom Brady in their respective sports, elevates his game when it matters most. To put it into perspective, prior to his 40 point outburst, TD had only scored over 30 points five times this season. For his career, he’s averaging nearly three points and a rebound more per game in the playoffs than the regular season.

The three pointer, crazy as it was, sums it all up. Here’s a guy that’s gone 0-4 all season, has scored nearly all of his baskets in this game on back-to-the-basket post moves. With around 12 left, his team down by three, he calmly sets a screen at the top of the key, and, instead of rolling to the basket like most men his size are want to do, he pops back to the wing, behind the three. Shaq obviously doesn’t go out to get him, why would he? Duncan receives the kick pass from Ginobili, and sets himself up to hit the game tying three, as if he’s done it all year. Whatever needed to be done, he was there to do it.Sixth Man Manu Ginobili has gone even further to cement himself as a better player than Tony Parker. The foul on Steve Nash was enough to warrant a pink slip for Tony, but the fact remains that Manu again took it to the hole when it matter and won the game for them. In fairness, Parker was having similar success against the rag-tag D the Suns throw out there. And, congrats to Manu on winning the 6th Man of the Year Award. Leandro Barbosa and Jason Terrycame in distant a second and third. Ginobili becomes the first player since Ricky Pierce in 1987 to win the award and lead his team in scoring.

Next Game Keys Forget all this nonsense about whether or not the Suns can come back mentally from a crushing game one loss. That’s all baloney from the media. These guys are good, damn good and to be fair, only a few mental mistakes and “lucky” shots cost them the game. That said, the Suns won’t become a good defensive team over the course of a few off days. They have one good on ball defender and that’s Raja Bell. If he’s sticking Manu, that means Tony should be able to get to the cup nearly every single time. The true key is to get the two big stiffs in foul trouble early. Neither can really play defense on Tim Duncan, but it is tough to have them both out there wreaking havoc on either side. If things go the way they likely should, they’ll get themselves in trouble.

File This In The I Hate The Suns Folder Says Shaq on some of the foul calls he received, “That [flopping] is some bull. Then you all write like these [expletive] guys can play. Give me a [expletive] break.” He went further, “I ain’t changing nothing. I’ve got 700 days left [on his contract], and I ain’t changing a [expletive] thing. … I got four [rings] doing it my way, and I’m going to continue doing it my way.” Well, to you, we here at SASpurscast say, good luck with that. Truth is, he’s probably partly right, but partly wrong. Does Fab flop? You bet. Thomas does a bit too. That said, the Diesel has been getting away with this nonsense for near a decade. Unfortunately for the Big Cactus, he just isn’t as good as he used to be, and he isn’t getting the same calls he used to get. Sort of like when Greg Maddux stopped getting three or four baseballs on each side of the plate. Too bad.